Oven-charred stuffed peppers

Ingredients

• 6-8 medium bell peppers (8 medium or 6 large) in any combination of green/yellow/red
• 1 cup onion finely chopped
• 1/2 cup garlic finely minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup white rice (uncooked)
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped mint
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
• 1 cup chopped, peeled tomatoes (4-5 canned, peeled plum tomatoes, drained)
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup warm water for pan

Method

Sauté finely chopped onions, then garlic in olive oil on low heat until soft and translucent.  Add rice, herbs, spices and tomatoes. Stir to combine completely.  Cook on low for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add water, cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes.  Make sure heat is low or rice mixture will stick to pan. Remove from heat, uncover, stir and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before filling. Rice should be almost completely cooked.

At this stage, you can keep filling covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days until you’re ready to stuff your peppers. When ready to use, allow filling to sit out for about 30 minutes and come to room temperature.

Cut off the tops of peppers and set aside. Remove seeds and veins and arrange in a pan which fits them tightly.  For 5 or six medium sized peppers I usually use a 9 inch round cake pan. For anywhere from 9-12 peppers, I use my 9×13″ cake pan.

Fill each pepper with rice mixture, almost to the top.  Add 2 tsp of warm water over the top of each filled pepper. Replace pepper lids and carefully brush tops and sides of filled peppers with olive oil.  Add 1 cup of warm water to bottom of the pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 hrs.  Yellow and orange bell peppers can be a bit thicker skinned and may need another 15 minutes or so. Rice will be soft and tops of peppers just slightly charred.

A piece of crusty bread and you’ve got a fantastic meal!